Lend Me A Dream
by wavesparkle7217
Summary: The mare humans call Lend Me A Dream is a brave, patient, and strong chestnut thoroughbred. Her legacy is as a polo pony in the world of rough-and-tumble mustangs.
1. A Dream is Born

The little red filly came into the world in blur of blood and slime and grunting mare. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a blurred sack she knew she must break free of. The filly thrashed, but she was weak, and the sack was strong. But there! Her muzzle was free and cold air rushed into aching lungs. Her mother and the filly the big mare had borne lay in the blood-slicked grass until the dam rolled over and began to clean her filly for the first time. The little one knew it was important for to know her dam's scent.

The mare was what they call a palomino, with a golden coat and a mane like clouds. She was tall, and big, and strong, and brave and the little filly knew she must be like her dam to survive.

It was night when th filly got up the strength to nurse, and her dam was frantic. The filly, however, was already full of the calm and determination that would define her life...


	2. Eli's Last Chance

I suckled shakily at my mother's flank, knowing only that I was cold and hungry. My dam began to walk, and I followed the palomino mare, staying as close as my over-long legs would let me. I fell often, but I rose and followed again the big golden mare who waited whenever her little one fell. It was a hard trip back to the fences that surrounded the paddocks.

My dam waited at the gate for the help she knew would come. I took this opportunity to lay down and rest in the dewy spring grass. Why was my mother waiting? Then I knew. I struggled to my feet again and followed my mother and the strange creature that led us into the walls of darkness. I was afraid, and would not have entered the barn if my dam had not been eager, even pushy, to get in.

The stall was small enough to be a comfort to me, the newborn filly, and large enough to be a haven for the first-time mother. The human was crooning into the dark stall to settle the new pair, my dam and I.

"Hush, Wind, hush Baby, go to sleep and rest. A vet is on the way." Then the light went out of the world and I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

I awoke at a strange touch on my neck. I was scared, but I did not panic. The only sign of my fear I let show was in my eyes. The man at my side laughed a little and began to talk to the man standing with my dam.

"She's healthy enough, Eli. She's a little premature, but you got her inside soon enough. Can't be too careful these days, what with the Cavalry's stables just down the road. A filly this new is a fragile creature."

The man at my dam's head sighed. "Can't thank you enough, Dan. Wind and her filly are my last chance."

I wondered for a moment who Wind was, then I realized the man called Eli meant my mother. By default, that meant I was his last chance. Last chance at what, I wondered.

A week passed in the fragrant straw of the stall. I grew and my mother slimmed down. I learned my dam's whole name was "I Dream Of Wind" and that I was by a stallion called "Lend A Hand". Eli and my dam became my best friends, and I grew to love Eli's touch.

Then I got to go outside. At first I resisted the tug at my head and the halter Eli put on me. But my dam was anxious to go, and she would have left without me. The world was so much bigger and brighter then I could ever have imagined.

I stood, blinking, in the sun, and then I began to run.


	3. Run Like Wind

Three glorious steps later, I crashed to the ground, but I had a new-found desperation to be on my feet. I could not run when I was trapped on the ground. I scrambled up, tipped forward in my excitement, and scrambled up again. Shaky step by shaky step, I ventured into freedom.

I heard Eli and my dam laughing. I looked over at them, by my dam was tearing at the grass and Eli's face was as yet unreadable to me. I snorted and tossed my head. Then I set my attention once again on the grass beneath my hooves and I began to move again. I leaped up, and began to run, more slowly at first, but as the days passed, I began to get faster and faster, and ate more and more.

My mother was almost always busy eating, and so I had to entertain myself, but doing so was easy enough. I could run, now, and jump, and stop and turn and slide across the muddy parts of the paddock with ease.

I was throwing myself into the air with abandon when Eli and his friend Dan came to us again. I stopped to listen to them.

"Look at her. She's only a few months old and just look at the way she moves!" Eli's voice sounded excited.

"She's a looker too." Dan added, turning toward my mother. "You bred her well, Eli. I thought you were an idiot taking a season off to breed Wind, but maybe you played your cards right after all."

"This way, even if they take Wind, I'll have the filly to train up. I was harder than I thought it would be, taking the season off the breed her, but I'm glad I did. Soon as I wean the filly, I'll put Wind back in training."

I wondered for a moment what Eli meant, but the odd feeling in my head passed momentarily, and I kicked up my heels and came to screeching halt in front of the fence, blowing air in his face.


End file.
